The higher education governance bill aims to unify the governance of the country’s higher education institutions by controlling the membership of their ruling councils. Currently, each university has its own management structure and rules about selecting candidates for leadership.

The proposed changes include the introduction of an elected chair at each university, to be chosen in a vote that is open to stakeholders from inside and outside of the institution. The bill also requires university boards to include two trade union representatives, two elected staff members, two student members and two graduate members.

The measures would abolish the right of Scotland’s four “ancient” universities – St Andrews, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh – to elect a rector to chair their ruling courts alongside a vice-convenor or governor.

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Universities have voiced concern that the new rules could result in the loss of their charitable status as independent institutions. Lord Sutherland, a former principal of the University of Edinburgh, has described the bill as “political meddling”, while current principal Timothy O’Shea, fears it would give the government “far-reaching powers” over higher education.

But first minister Nicola Sturgeon insists the bill is not about introducing ministerial control; rather it is about ensuring university management is “transparent and inclusive”. NUS Scotland and the Scottish Trades Union Congress both support the proposals, saying they will give students a greater say in how universities are run.

So who is right? Are Scottish universities simply stuck in their ways or do they have reason to be wary ?

Against: “There is no major crisis of governance that needs fixing”

Paul Greatrix, registrar at the University of Nottingham, argues that Scotland’s universities are functioning well and new legislation could prove disruptive

What is confusing for university leaders in Scotland is that it’s not at all clear what problems this bill is actually trying to solve, because there hasn’t been a major crisis in governance in Scottish universities.

Scotland may have a small higher education sector, but there’s a real diversity there of tradition, history, organisation and culture among the ancient and the modern universities. There just isn’t a strong enough case to make all Scottish universities govern in the same way.

University autonomy is a critical feature in their success. One of the reasons Scottish and other British universities punch above their weight in the world in terms of research and general reputation, is because of the autonomy they enjoy. Once you start messing around with that, you put the whole ecosystem of higher education at risk.

It may look innocuous, but when you go down the path of the government telling you how many people to have and how to elect them, you start changing the dynamic. There are worries that the next minister will come in and say: “We’ll change the terms and conditions of staff, we’ll change the staff-student ratio, we’ll change the number of hours teaching needed” and so on.

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I don’t think we need to legislate to see change in terms of giving students power, because that is the direction of travel in higher education. Universities realise that to provide a good student experience, they have to put student views at the centre of decision-making.

There has been a code of governance [pdf] that applies to all UK universities for about 10 years, which was developed by the Committee of University Chairs and is updated regularly. Scottish universities went further and added their own response [pdf]in 2013, which deals with many of the issues the Scottish government now wants to address – a fact the government seems to be ignoring.

The code of governance has been in place for two years now and research shows that universities are implementing it. The legislation therefore serves no useful purpose and may ultimately be more damaging than helpful.

For: “It will improve decision-making at universities”

Emily Beever, women’s officer for NUS Scotland, has been campaigning for the bill. She argues that it will ensure all students in Scotland get the chance elect their university leader

Elected rectors were introduced to our ancient universities in the 19th century. But their role in ensuring that the voice of staff and students remains front and centre in university decision-making can’t be a right that is reserved only for our ancient institutions.

The bill opens up the opportunity to have elected chairs at all of our universities. Not only will the changes proposed in the bill build on the role of the rector by making them accountable to staff and students, but it will extend the tradition of democratically elected chairs to institutions across the country.

Most importantly, the bill opens up the potential for student and trade union representatives to sit on all decision-making bodies, including the sub committees of the governing body. This is something that NUS Scotland has long argued for, because the more student reps involved in decision-making at every level of the institution, the more transparent and accountable the institution will be.

This shouldn’t be a difficult or contentious fight. We know the shocking under-representation faced across many institutions and subjects. We know more diverse groups make better decisions; quality requires diversity.

If anything, NUS Scotland believes the bill could go further. University governing bodies still fall short on reflecting the diverse communities they serve. And university principals are still receiving eye-watering sums in salaries and benefits, with no opportunity for transparency or scrutiny from staff or students.

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The bill goes some way to addressing this by putting staff and students on governing bodies and academic boards. We think the principle needs be extended to all levels of decision-making, ensuring their views are represented on issues from estates to remunerations.

We’ve heard talk of how governing bodies should only ever act in the interest of the institution, seemingly forgetting that an institution’s best interests should always be staff and students. We can’t forget that our universities are charities in receipt of well over a billion pounds of public funding each year.

Universities should be serving staff and students and the wider communities they sit within, are often far removed from them. That’s what this bill is about and we’re glad that something is finally being done to recognise it.

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